1. Field of the Invnetion
The present invention relates to an apparatus and a method for slicing a semiconductor wafer and, in particular, to an apparatus and a method for slicing a wafer by cutting thin slices from a cylindrical-shaped semiconductor material in a semiconductor manufacturing process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a slicing machine has been in use, as an apparatus for cutting thin slices from a cylindrical-shaped semiconductor material (such as silicon, synthetic quartz glass or the like) to produce wafers.
However, in some cases, in the above-mentioned conventional slicing machine, a cutting resistance given to a slicing blade can not be maintained in a predetermined constant level due to the wear, or the like of the slicing blade, which is used to cut an ingot. In such cases, as shown in FIG. 9, the slicing blade 100 is caused to move irregularly relative to a slicing direction, so that there are produced curvatures, saw makes and the like 104 on the sliced surface of the wafer 102.
Also, the semiconductor wafers currently made are growing larger in diameter. That is, the further the growth of the semiconductor wafer diameter advances, the greater curvatures are produced on the wafer when the wafer is made by slicing the ingot. Such curvatures can not be corrected by following steps such as a lapping operation and the like.
In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, in Japenese Patent Publication (Laid-Open) No.61-106207, there is disclosed a method of removing the curvatures and the like on the wafer.
According to the disclosed method, a cup-shaped grind stone is located adjacently to an inner periphery slicing blade of a slicing apparatus and the surface of an ingot to be sliced is surface ground; after then, the ingot is cut into thin slices by the inner periphery slicing blade and the surface of the ingot are then ground by the cup-shaped grind stone. That is, these operations are repeated to manufacture wafers. Since one surface of the sliced wafer has been surface ground, the wafer can be machined in a following step, that is, lapping by the grind stone, into a wafer free from curvatures or the like.
However, in the above-mentioned wafer slicing method disclosed in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Publication (Laid-Open), there is disclosed no concrete structure in which the inner periphery slicing blade and grind stone are arranged in the limited space of the slicing apparatus. For this reason, there has been desired the development of a wafer slicing apparatus in which the inner periphery slicing blade and grind stone are arranged in an efficient manner.